Tag Archives: Follow Your Bliss

“In Tonio Kröger, the young artist moved out of the world of what had to be done. In the Magic Mountain, Hans Castorp stepped away from the world of what had to be done and followed the fascination of his nature. That is the adventure. ”
– Joseph Campbell, Collected Works, II.1.7, “Thomas Mann and James Joyce”, ‘Absorbing the Monstrous’, 5:23 mark in the audio lecture.

The key here is to discern what is the fascination of your nature. When you have found that, the “World of What Has to Be Done” simply has to take a back seat. It’s a psychological shift. Doesn’t mean you don’t pay your bills. Doesn’t mean you don’t run your errands or attend social functions, but it does mean those things are no longer your priority. You’re priority is your fascination. You follow that as long and as hard as your inner nature tells you to. And then when the inevitable need to take a break comes, you do your secondary items.
Stephen Cope has a nice phrase: “What lights you up?” I think Bob Proctor says something like “What winds your stem, what gets you jazzed?” And then really it becomes a psychological problem rather than a practical one because when you change your psychology, your consciousness, into one of making your fascination the centerpiece, the most important thing in your life, you initiate your subconscious, the doorway to eternity, and this infinite resource goes to work for you 100% of the time, even when you are running errands, paying bills, or attending social functions. And then everything starts to happen. You’re riding a wave. Your wave.

“I’ve said in the ‘Hero with a Thousand Faces’ that if you go on your own proper voyage, there will be protection, magical aid to come to protect you. If it’s not your proper voyage, that will be missing, and you’ll be in trouble. But if it’s the voyage of your own spirit and soul and destiny, don’t be afraid. There will come assistance.”

I love Gary Vaynerchuck, his personality, his passion, what he’s done, and what he’s doing. So at the end of last week’s Window’s Weekly podcast #139 with Paul Thurott and Leo Laporte, I was excited to hear that his Audible recommendation was Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, the first book by Gary, which explains his how he turned his New Jersey wine store into a 70 million dollar business using Social Media, and how everyone can turn their passion into, if not a career, at least a living. This is because of the huge paradigm shift that’s happening right now in the communications revolution. Billions of dollars of advertising money is rapidly exiting “old media” and flowing into the new media world of the web. Advertising is becoming social and niche, and the advertisers are more and more diverting their budgets from the dying old media model of unengagement, the new media model of social, internet, and engaged, with the overriding theme of “real.” They are doing this because it is where the future is headed, or maybe I should say where the present is right now. They are getting more bang from their buck from interested, highly engaged, and authentic audiences, who themselves are becoming not just the consumers, but also the creators of the content that is informing the world.

Some highlights:

“If you have any thoughts about getting ahead in life, I think you need to listen to this podcast, even if you can’t stand wine, because this guy is absolutely fascinating” – Paul Thurott

“If I could boil it down to the simplest thing, what this book is all about, its that you need to really care about it” (i.e., the work you are doing) – P.T.

“Anyone can start a blog. Anyone can start a website. Anyone can start a podcast. The trick is to keep doing it.” – P.T.

“And the reason I keep doing what it is I’m doing, is because I love technology, and I love this work” – P.T.

“I stick with things…er I should say I stick with the things I really care about. And you have to have a passion for it. You have to really care.” – P.T.

“This is an incredible book by an incredible guy, and someone I don’t know, but respect so much.” – P.T.

“He’s the real deal, and the essential point of this is right. The prescription in this book is absolutely right on.” – Leo Laporte

“And you hit the nail on the head. There are times when this is going to be tough, whatever it is you choose to do is going to be tough, its going to be slow going. You may not get the rewards you want, but if you do something that you are passionate about, it will carry you through those times and you will succeed.” – Leo Laporte

“You could jump start your life with this one. It could be that book that you go “Wow, I wouldn’t be here today, if I hadn’t read this book” – Leo Laporte